Mental performance, also known as cognitive performance, is the capability of an individual’s mind in terms of their cognitive and psychological abilities.
Although historically, this concept has been more popular in the professional sporting arena, we feel it is very important to recognize a high level of mental performance in all of our daily lives as a great, clear mind helps us all achieve our goals and ambitions in life.
Mental performance covers a vast array of a person’s mental processing ability that is used daily and covers areas such as:
1. Memory: The ability, both long-term and short-term, to store, retain, and recall information. This is arguably the most important component of mental performance.
2. Attention & Focus: The ability to focus on specific tasks or information whilst also having the ability to filter out distractions. Attention gives an individual the power to focus on what is relevant to what they are trying to achieve.
3. Problem Solving: Mental performance involves the ability to process complex situations, offer potential solutions, and embark on the most appropriate course of action to solve the problem.
4. Reasoning: Logical reasoning and critical thinking are essential for mental performance. Reasoning allows us to make sound judgments and decisions.
5. Learning Ability: Being able to learn and take on new information has a direct link to a person’s level of mental performance. Being able to learn effectively will enhance an individual’s positioning in this world and hence will be advantageous to their overall well-being.
6. Emotional Intelligence: This is one’s ability to master emotions, an essential component to obtain optimal mental performance. Controlling emotions allows you to be able to pay attention to what is relevant to your life vs what is not worthwhile dealing with. This leads to better positioning yourself to have a clear mind, free of clutter and insignificant emotions that will not assist you on your journey to success. As a side note here, being emotionally intelligent is also a very important trait in becoming a high-value person which we will also post about in the future.
7. Decision Making: Mental performance influences the quality of decision-making we do. Better mental performance facilitates us to make better, informed decisions and even make decisions. If one has a low level of mental performance it has been witnessed that at times those individuals can’t even make a decision at all, which can be crippling to daily life.
8. Lifestyle Factors: A healthy lifestyle will facilitate a clearer mind and better mental performance. A healthy diet, adequate sleep, regular exercise, and good, general overall health will significantly help your mental performance.
9. Processing Speed: How quickly an individual can process and react to information is a component of mental performance. Faster processing speed is often used to elevate oneself in certain situations and therefore can be deemed a desirable state of mind to be in.
10. Creativity: Being able to solve problems and execute solutions using creativity is crucial when operating at a heightened level of mental performance.
11. Adaptability: Self-explanatory but the ability to adapt to changing circumstances allows us to move on effectively to new challenges that arise and not dwell on the past or what could have happened. This allows for less clutter in our minds and hence, better mental performance.
12. Resilience: The ability to bounce back from failures and adverse situations whilst remaining positive is also important for mental performance. It is also one of the main traits listed here that ties in very closely with other areas of mental performance, such as Emotional Intelligence and Adaptability, they all feed off each other so we really love this one too!
13. Communication Skills: Being able to articulate your thoughts and feelings to others is imperative when operating at a heightened level of mental performance. You must be able to express yourself whilst also learning how to be succinct and confident in your delivery. This is important as we want the world to hear our voices. Bottling up thoughts and feelings will not allow you to have a clear mind socially or professionally in your daily life.
So we know what mental performance is, what next?
Well, we should talk about the why.
Why do we care about the above?
Well….reading the 13 points listed makes us feel that mental performance is important but it’s more than just that. It is crucial to our overall well-being and quality of life.
Our mental performance helps us navigate life and achieve our lifelong dreams. If we aren’t thinking clearly and we are making bad decisions we will start to lose in life.
Sounds dramatic but it’s true!
We can’t expect the best for ourselves if we are not the best version of ourselves and getting to the best version of ourselves requires a clear, sharp mind. We need to give ourselves the best possible chance at achieving our goals, seek personal fulfillment in all areas of our lives, and provide the best quality of life not only to ourselves but those closest to us too.
So it matters!
Striving for a high level of mental performance in our lives will also support our general mental health and personal growth so it’s a worthwhile endeavour for us all to set out to accomplish.